


Just Napping

by Jacie_popslash (Jacie)



Category: NSYNC, Popslash
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Cabin Fic, Kidnapping, M/M, Robbery, Skinny Dipping, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-21
Updated: 2003-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-02 10:33:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie_popslash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JC has bad ideas. Justin gets kidnapped. Lance gets pissed off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Napping

It started out like every other bad idea JC ever had. The three roommates were sitting around their living room drinking. Tequila. Justin and Lance were arguing over whether it was ‘lick, drink, suck’ or ‘suck, lick, drink’. JC didn’t care. They both sounded fine to him. They had deemed this their bi-weekly roommate meeting. They talked about bills and how they needed more money. 

JC had no family to mooch from. An only child orphaned at nineteen, he had met Lance at work a couple years later and Lance had brought him home. Lance had grinned when JC had waved off the offer of the couch and had followed Lance into his bedroom. And shut the door. Gotten naked. Stripped Lance. Pulled Lance into bed. Licked Lance all over. And taught Lance what it was to love a man. JC stayed in Lance’s bedroom every night since then. 

Lance’s family was dirt poor. They lived on a small farm that had been losing money for almost as long as Lance had been alive. Being a straight A student had earned Lance a ‘go to college free’ card: a full scholarship. All he had to do was pay for his food, apartment, books and car. His parents were unable to assist him financially.

Justin and Lance had been assigned as dorm roommates their first year at college. The next year, they had decided to get an apartment together. It meant not going home for the summer, but they both had jobs and didn’t mind staying put. Justin also got an allowance. His mother worried about him eating well and she told him to only use it for food. And clothes. And emergencies. Justin liked to use it for booze. Justin’s family had money though. When their money was tight (meaning, no beer in the fridge), Justin had tried to beg for more money. His father had yelled at him. After all, he was nineteen, had a job and an allowance. If he ran out of money, he would just have to work on his budgeting skills and his priorities, according to his father. JC and Lance just thought Justin should spend less money on shoes and clothing. He had more athletic shoes than anyone could possibly wear and they were all expensive ones. And the designer label clothes. Well, JC didn’t complain about the clothes. Justin liked his clothing tight and it all fit JC just fine. 

They had a couch and a chair in the living room. Justin got the chair and Lance and JC were always tangled together on the couch. Mostly Lance sat on the couch and JC wrapped his long limbs around his boyfriend. As they were discussing their most recent financial woes, JC was twisting his fingers through Lance’s hair. That’s when it happened. JC came up with another bad idea.

“We should kidnap Justin.”

Lance choked on his tequila.

“Come on sweetie. We kidnap him and...”

“Dude!” Justin exclaimed. “Your potential victim is like right here. Within earshot and everything.”

JC giggled. “That’s okay, you’re in on it. I mean we pretend to kidnap you and we send a ransom note to your parents. They’re loaded. They’ll pay. In a heartbeat. Just, you can even keep all the money. As long as you help us out with like rent and shit.”

Lance laughed. He always laughed at JC. JC was a funny guy without trying to be.

Justin shrugged it off.

After classes ended for the semester and most of the college students left for home, Justin walked into work to find his scheduled hours cut in half. The manager shrugged and said that always happened when all the kids went home. Two weeks later the restaurant where JC and Lance worked had a fire. And closed down, leaving them both unemployed with no immediate prospects.

The next time they were sitting around their living room drinking (only beer this time, because that’s all they could afford) and having their bi-weekly roommate meeting, Justin looked at JC, who was sprawled across Lance. “JC, this idea you had. The one about kidnapping me and sending my parents a ransom note. How would we work that?”

JC giggled, then began laying out his basic plan to the others.

They had carefully worked out the details, as well as three drunken young men could. Lance would make an appointment to take a test ride in a car he found advertised for sale in the paper. He would drop JC off nearby, then pick up the car, leaving his at the seller’s house, then he would pick up JC and they would go grab Justin from a nearby park. They would shove him into the trunk, then take off. Lance would then drop JC and Justin off, return the car to the seller, pick up his own car, then come back to pick up Justin and JC. 

Justin had rented a cabin out in the woods about two hours away. It was very secluded and Justin had rented it for the summer. They had only paid the deposit. JC and Lance would drop Justin off at the cabin with plenty of groceries, then they would return to town, create a ransom note and call Justin’s parents with the *demands*. Piece of cake.

They chose a park that was large. Justin sat at a table that was within view of several other park goers, but not close enough that anyone could reach him before he was shoved into the car. He wanted to be seen, not rescued. They chose to arrange the kidnapping around dusk, when the light was fading. People would be more confused about faces and colors in the diminishing light.

It all started out fine. Lance and JC, both dressed in dark clothing and baseball caps, showed up, parked the car, then got out and walked past Justin. Justin then scooted off the table and walked toward the sidewalk, close to the car Lance had driven. When he was close enough, Lance and JC would turn around and grab him, force him into the trunk and take off. There was one element Justin hadn’t counted on. The duct tape. JC was such a freak. Lance raised the trunk’s lid as JC shoved Justin in, wrapping duct tape around Justin’s wrists and ankles. Justin squirmed and screamed for real. That definitely got some attention. JC grinned as he slapped a final strip of duct tape across Justin’s mouth and slammed the trunk lid down, then leapt into the passenger side as Lance peeled away.

They had scouted out the area earlier and found a house for sale nearby that had an empty garage in the back. Lance turned the car down the alley and waited while JC raised the garage door. Lance backed in, then helped JC pull Justin from the trunk. His eyes were wild, as if he were really being kidnapped. They set him down gently on a blanket. JC kissed Lance, both of their hearts racing, pumping with adrenalin. They couldn’t wait to get home.

Lance left. JC pulled the garage door shut and waited. He sat on the blanket next to Justin and ran his fingers through Justin’s hair. “I kind of like you all tied up J. Sexy as hell. Maybe I’ll let Lance tie me up. He’s hard as hell. All excited. We should have done this a long time ago.”

Justin mumbled against the duct tape. JC laid down next to him and kissed him through the duct tape. Justin thought JC was a freak.

When JC heard a car slowing in the alley, he raised the door and Lance backed in. Together they lifted Justin into the trunk again. When they were driving through the city in the darkness with their car windows down and the stereo blasting, there was one thing they hadn’t anticipated. As they were driving through a rough neighborhood they were sitting at a stoplight when two men approached the car. They were both wielding guns. JC and Lance sat shocked and staring as the two men each opened one of the front doors, flinging out the boys, then leaping into the car themselves. The light turned green as the car doors slammed shut. In an instant, Lance and JC were standing in the middle of the street watching the fading taillights. That was about the time Lance realized this was another one of JC’s bad ideas.

They had the worst luck ever. They had just robbed a small store and only got eighteen dollars for their trouble. Damn lock boxes. Joey had almost asked the cashier to hand over the change, but Chris had pulled him from the store. When they ran into the street, they saw a car in front of them sitting at a stoplight. Windows open. Two young men. Joey and Chris didn’t even confer with each other. They were each thinking the same thing. It was their plan anyway. Rob the store, then carjack the next car they saw and get the hell out of there.

An hour outside of the city a tire blew. Chris cursed and pulled over. When they stopped Chris looked at Joey. Joey looked at Chris. Chris rolled his eyes.

“What?” Joey wondered.

“We have a flat. I thought maybe you could check the trunk for a spare, since I’m driving.”

“Oh, sure.” Joey opened his door and walked to the back of the car while Chris popped the trunk release. Then Joey just stood and stared into the trunk.

“Joey? Is there a spare?”

“Um, there’s a spare something.”

“What?”

“Come here.”

“Do they have a spare or not?”

“Chris, you have to see this one for yourself.”

Chris slammed the car door as he got out. When he got to the trunk, all he could do for a minute was stare. He finally observed, “We carjacked a couple of kidnappers.”

Justin was having trouble breathing, his eyes were wide. His body shook. 

Chris reached in, yanking the tape from Justin’s mouth. “Not a kidnap,” the blond screamed. “Just a prank. I swear. My roommates. They were my roommates. We were. They were. We rented a cabin and they. They came to my work and grabbed me. They say I work too much. They called my boss and worked out that I would get a few days off and they were taking me to the cabin. Because I work all the time. I never...”

“Shut up!” Chris demanded. “You’re already giving me a headache. Do you know where this cabin is? You got directions?”

Justin nodded.

“Do tell.”

“Chris, we can’t...”

“Just for a few days, Joey. No doubt his friends are in town talking to the police right now about their stolen car. They’ll be told to stay in town. And if they do come out, we’ll be ready for them. They’re just a couple of dumb kids anyway. Now, directions.”

Justin stammered them out. Chris followed them into the country. When they got close, he pulled over and had Joey pull Justin from the trunk. “You’re going to check in and get the keys. Joey will go with you. Joey has a gun. If you screw this up or try any signaling, Joey will shoot you. In the event that Joey misses or you happen to give him the slip, I’ll be waiting outside. I have a gun and I will shoot you. Understand what I’m getting at kid? You screw with us, you’ll find yourself real dead. You play nice and we’ll hang out for a while and we’ll let you go. Give you your roommate’s car back, too. Okay?”

Justin licked his lips and nodded.

Justin was nervous, but managed to check them in and pick up the keys without incident. Joey stood beside him the whole time.

Joey sat with Justin in the back seat as they drove to the cabin. They drove around to the back, hiding the car from view. Chris initially nodded his approval of the cabin, but was disappointed that there was no food. He suspected Joey had to be starving. “I’ll go get food first thing in the morning,” he offered.

“But the car is stolen. What if they catch you?”

Chris smiled cooly, “Never been caught before, baby. It’s take the risk or starve. I’ll go early and stash the car outside of town and walk in. If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’m camping. You know how convincing I can be.”

Yeah, Joey knew.

“If I get busted, I’ll say I wasn’t the one who carjacked it. I’ll just say I was hitchhiking and the two guys who picked me up gave me the car. I mean, hitchhikers aren’t thought of as being all that bright anyway.”

Joey smiled. No wonder Chris was the brains of their two-man operation. The man was smart. Joey admired him. A lot.

It was a two bedroom cabin, so Justin figured he would get stuck sleeping on the couch. He was surprised when Joey and Chris made themselves at home in the larger bedroom and said he could have the smaller one. Chris went back out to the car to retrieve the roll of duct tape he had seen.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Justin.”

“Look Justin, we only need a place to chill for a while. We’re kind of down on our luck, dude. Broke. We’re not going to hurt you, but we can’t have you running to the cops.” With that as an explanation, Chris taped Justin’s hands together, then his ankles. “I sleep light, Justin. If you roll onto the floor, I’ll be here in an instant. And it won’t be pleasant. So you just go to sleep and we’ll let you up tomorrow. As long as you behave, we’ll only tie you up at night so we can sleep. Got any money on you, kid?”

“You’re going to rob me?”

“Just for grocery money.” Chris rolled Justin over and ran his hand over Justin’s ass, as Joey smiled. With hands as quick and light as a pickpocket, Chris snapped up Justin’s wallet and announced, “Two hundred and ninety bucks. Nice.”

Chris stole out early and grabbed two bags of groceries. It was all he could carry. As soon as he placed the food in the car, he wished he had made a trip to the liquor store first. Then he shrugged and told himself the liquor store wouldn’t be open this early anyway. 

Chris hid the car again, behind the cabin and Joey cooked breakfast. “This food isn’t going to last long, Chris.”

Chris shrugged. “It’s not far into town. I can make another trip in a couple days.”

Joey glared at him.

“It’s all I could carry, man. Don’t you think it would be suspicious if I went back three times in the same day?”

Chris released Justin and pushed him into the bathroom to shower, removing all of Justin’s clothing and towels. “You call to me when you’re done, sweetie pie.” Chris pinched Justin’s cheek and laughed. 

When Justin was finished, all Chris would give him were his boxers. He supposed that was better than nothing.

Around three, they heard another car approach. Chris waved to Joey to wait behind the door, while he sat on the couch with Justin. Chris grabbed a deck of cards and shoved a few into Justin’s hands. “Don’t screw up, kid. We’re just a couple of buddies playing cards.”

“What are we playing?” Justin sneered.

Chris had seated Justin facing the door, while he sat to the side. Listening for footsteps, he figured there were two men approaching. They had left the solid door to the cabin open, but the screen door shut. Chris noticed the look of recognition in Justin’s eyes when the screen door opened.

“J! God, we were hoping you’d get away and head here or home.”

After the two men entered, Joey kicked the door shut and put Lance into a headlock. Chris whipped around quickly and pushed JC to the floor, pointing a gun at his head. “Arms up. Nobody move. Let’s all just relax here. Check them out, Joey.”

Joey released Lance, warning, “Don’t do anything stupid.” He ran his hands down Lance’s torso, cupped his crotch, gave his ass a squeeze, then ran his hands down each leg before announcing, “This one’s clean.”

At that, Chris allowed JC to get off the floor and shoved him at Joey, who began running his hands down JC’s torso and was even rewarded with a moan when he cupped JC. Joey smiled. Justin rolled his eyes, wondering how anyone could possibly be as freakish as JC. Joey finished his search of JC. “No weapons on him either, but I’m not sure how clean he is.”

JC shuttered just feeling Joey’s warm breath against his neck. He blamed it on Lance, who had refused to have sex last night or this morning, because he was worried about Justin. JC was worried too, but thought sex was a great tension reliever. Joey wrapped his arms around JC and rubbed his crotch against JC’s ass, drawing another moan from him. “I kind of like this one, Chris. He’s all pretty and cuddly and flamey,” Joey laughed.

Justin sighed. Joey was right. JC was flamey. Freaky and flamey. Sometimes Justin couldn’t figure out what Lance saw in JC. Lance was practically a geek, one step away from wearing a pocket protector. They were an odd pairing in Justin’s book, but he liked them both.

“Gentlemen, please sit down,” Chris waved around at the available seating. Lance and JC sat on the other couch, while Chris moved next to Justin. Joey remained standing, gun in hand. “This is the deal boys. Your buddy Justin here told us about your little prank. All we want is a place to stay for a while. A safe place. We like it here. We even like the kid here. We’re not going to hurt anyone as long as you boys play nice. You screw up, we’ll kill you. If one of you takes off, we will kill the other two. You play nice, we’ll leave you all safe and sound, and even your car.”

“I didn’t see it when we drove up,” Lance commented.

Chris nodded out the back door in the kitchen, “Out back. Hidden. I figured you would report it stolen.”

“We did,” Lance admitted.

“Tell anyone you were headed up here?”

Lance said, ‘yes’ at the same time JC said ‘no’. Chris smiled, believing JC. 

“Justin, suppose you tell me what your friends’ names are.”

“Lance and JC.” Justin had nodded to indicate which one was which.

“Okay, first, Lance, you and Joey are going to unload your car, while JC and I have a little chat. Then you will go into town and buy some beer for my pal Joey. Joey will go with you, so don’t screw around. If you’re not back in an hour, I’ll kill one of your buddies.”

“I. I can’t buy beer,” Lance stammered. “I’m not old enough.”

“That’s okay. Joey’s over twenty-one. Joey, let him pay. You have money, Lance?”

Lance nodded.

“If they ask for your ID, act like you forgot it at the cabin. You better be a good actor. If they ask for ID, Joey can show his. You probably won’t be carded anyway. Small town. They don’t like to believe that a minor would have the audacity to try to purchase alcohol.”

After the car was unloaded and Joey and Lance departed, Chris questioned JC about their ages, their families, what the cops had told them about the car, about who they had told about the cabin and about how long they had the cabin for. Justin rolled his eyes and sighed as JC spilled the whole plot about kidnapping Justin to ransom him back to his parents. They hadn’t sent the ransom note yet. They didn’t mention to the police that Justin was in the car. The police hadn’t told them to stick around town. They just took the report and said they’d call if the car was recovered. JC and Lance had hoped that the carjackers would either abandon the car without ever noticing they had Justin, or they hoped Justin would get away and either head home or to the cabin. Initially, they were only going to spend Saturday and Sunday at the cabin, unless they found Justin. If Justin was there, they were going to stay longer. They had brought food just in case. Chris marveled as Justin and JC unloaded grocery bags and the cooler.

Chris let Justin walk back to the living room first. He grabbed JC and held him back, pushing him against the counter. “Have a boyfriend, beautiful?”

“Yeah, Lance. Lance is my boyfriend.”

“Mmm, you flame baby, but I didn’t think he was.” 

JC swallowed as Chris pushed his hair off his forehead. Then he backed off, motioning for JC to join Justin in the living room.

Later in the evening, they began drinking. Chris reminded the others again that if one of them ran, the other two would be shot and assured them he could shoot plenty straight even after a couple beers. Then he duct taped Justin’s ankles together and duct taped Lance’s left ankle to JC’s right one and laughed as he admired his handiwork.

Joey smiled, thinking Chris was a fucking genius. Justin didn’t agree, especially when he had to put up with being carried to the bathroom by Joey every time he had to pee. And Joey watched. Then carried him back to the living room. 

When Chris decided it was time for everyone to turn in, he cut them free of their duct tape bindings and told Lance and Justin to go to the bathroom, because they weren’t to come out of the bedroom again until Chris let them out in the morning. Leaving JC in the living room with Joey, Chris escorted Lance and Justin to the small bedroom, watched them undress down to their underwear, then made them lay together on the bed. He taped their wrists and ankles once more and warned them he was going to booby trap their door. If they set it off, he would be very displeased. When Lance asked about JC, Chris told him not to worry about it, he and Joey were going to take really good care of JC. As long as Justin and Lance stayed put, JC would be safe.

Chris grabbed JC, pushing him into the larger bedroom. Joey followed, then sat on the bed with Chris.

“Strip for us, baby,” Chris ordered.

JC stood still, pulling his T-shirt off and dropping it to the floor. Chris frowned. “Don’t be like that, baby. Give us a little show. Dance for us.” 

Joey laughed and began providing his own version of music to strip by. Chris laughed and joined him. JC found the beat and began to sway as he unfastened his jeans. Closing his eyes, he let the booze control his body, allowing muscles to flow with the sounds.

When JC was done, Chris waved him over to the bed, settling him onto his back between Chris and Joey. With one hand, Chris stroked JC’s hair, while Joey watched. After a minute, Chris leaned down, spanning his hand across JC’s stomach and kissing him softly. JC kissed back. Automatic reaction.

“What are you up for, baby?”

JC shook his head, “I can’t. I can’t. Lance.”

Chris glanced to Joey, clarifying, “The boyfriend.”

Joey’s eyebrows raised. “Lance?”

Chris rubbed JC’s stomach and kissed him again. JC kissed back, again. With tongue. He was hungry. Chris leaned over, whispering into JC’s ear, “We’re not going to make you do anything, baby. Not our style. You don’t have to do anything. We’re not going to make you and we’re not going to hurt you. Understand?”

JC swallowed thickly and nodded, then asked, “Can I go? To Lance?”

“Not tonight, baby. Maybe tomorrow if you’re all really good. You’re horny as hell, aren’t you?” Chris asked, letting his hand trail down JC’s hip to his thigh, stopping painfully close to his cock.

JC thrust into the touch and cursed himself. Another automatic reaction. He felt it wasn’t really his fault that his body liked to be touched. He answered Chris with a nod, unable to deny the obvious.

Chris licked his cheek and kissed him again. Harder. Longer.

“What do you want to do?” Chris pushed.

“I. Can’t,” JC insisted.

“We won’t take you, baby, but maybe we can just play. How about you suck my cock?”

JC licked his lips subconsciously.

“Joey can blow you at the same time or after. It’ll be good.”

Joey looked at Chris, across JC’s body. “And Joey gets what out of this?”

Chris shot him a sly smile, “Joey gets to have his way with me. Later.”

JC nodded and licked his lips again. 

Later, Chris pulled JC face to face, and began kissing him. With Chris in the middle, Joey sidled up behind him, giving little warning before penetrating him from the rear. Chris moaned into JC’s mouth, which caused JC to moan. Chris let his hands wander over JC’s chest, teasing his nipples. Once Joey had a good rhythm going, Chris reached down and began pumping JC. JC panted heavily as he returned the favor and began moaning between Chris’ kisses.

There was no mistaking JC’s passionate moans. Lance had heard enough of them. Tonight was the first time they made him cry. Justin tried to think of something, anything, to say to Lance to console him, but he couldn’t. Neither of them slept well.

 

The next morning Justin and Lance were lying where Chris had left them. Chris burst through their door with a cheery smile. “Rise and shine campers. It’s a beautiful day out there.”

As soon as Chris released him, Justin stood up and stretched. When Lance was released, he laid still, refusing to even look at Chris. 

Chris glanced at Justin, “Drop your shorts, then you can go to the bathroom. Take a shower if you want.” Once Justin had left, Chris sat on the bed beside Lance, stroking his hair. Lance shoved his arm away and rolled over. “Baby, why the attitude?” 

Lance was silent.

Chris shouted out the door, “Hey JC! Get your cute, flamey ass in here.”

JC smiled as he entered the room.

Chris pointed at Lance and asked, “Is he normally all pissy in the morning?”

JC frowned and shook his head. “No, he’s definitely a morning person.”

“Well, come here and get him up. He’s your boyfriend, not mine.”

JC walked around to the far side of the bed and tried to kiss Lance. Lance only rolled away, right into Chris. So he rolled back to JC and shoved him away.

JC rubbed Lance’s shoulder. “What’s the matter, sweetie?”

Lance shrugged off JC’s hand. “Get. Away. From me.”

JC was completely baffled. So was Chris. With a slap to Lance’s butt, Chris rolled off the bed, telling JC, “You talk to him. Breakfast will be waiting.”

Chris had barely sat down at the table when Justin came in from his shower, just wearing a towel. Chris tried to remember if he had asked if Justin was straight. Instead of exploring that at the moment, he asked, “Do you know what’s wrong with Lance? He’s very quiet. Like pissed off. He shoved JC away and won’t talk to him.”

Justin was already digging into a bowl of cereal. “He heard you guys. Last night. With JC. Moaning. He cried all night. Said he thought the relationship meant more to JC than that.”

“Oh shit,” Chris exclaimed, pushing his chair back from the table.

Justin looked up. “JC’s always been loud in bed. I could have told you that. I’ve lived with those two long enough.”

Chris went back to the bedroom. Things hadn’t changed. Lance still wasn’t talking or looking at JC. Chris sat down beside Lance, stroking his hair again. “JC, go have breakfast. Me and Lance are going to talk. Go.”

JC frowned, but left.

“Look, Lance, it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“You think we raped your boyfriend and he got into it. That’s not what happened, Lance. We didn’t make him do anything. The only one who took it up the ass in there last night was me. And it was Joey, not JC. I guess JC was just enjoying the view. So get over this mood of yours and lets go have breakfast. Because if you don’t, I’m going to duct tape you to JC with your dick up his ass, and leave you like that all day. Breakfast. Let’s go.”

Lance pulled on his jeans and headed to the bathroom before joining the others at the table.

Chris leaned over and whispered to JC what he had told Lance. JC had smiled back and thanked him.

They had left a seat open next to JC for Lance. When he finally stumbled in, Lance mumbled an apology, before grabbing a stack of pancakes.

There were a few rules. One was, no one left the cabin, even went outside, without an escort. Justin and Joey had found a swimming hole that never seemed to have anyone around. Ever. So in the afternoons, sometimes all five of them went swimming. It was discovered that Chris and Joey had no shame. They happily stripped naked, leaping into the water. Lance eyed their clothing wondering if they had brought their guns down. Lance knew about guns. He also knew he’d be in trouble for touching any of Chris and Joey’s things.

So they swam. Joey and Lance were the two who always ran into town for goods. They used Justin’s money to buy food, booze and clothing for Joey and Chris. Once a week JC went into town with them and they did laundry and ate at the diner, letting Chris and Justin fend for themselves back at the cabin.

Justin and Chris spent their time chasing each other, wrestling and tossing a baseball or frisbee around. Sometimes they went down to the swimming hole without the others. Or JC went with them, if he didn’t go into town with Joey and Lance.

It was one day, a couple weeks later, when all five of them were swimming naked at the swimming hole when Justin looked at Joey, asking, “So, how many people have you killed?”

Lance was glad Joey’s gun wasn’t handy right at that moment, but Justin seemed sincerely interested.

Joey gave Justin his best sinister grin and replied, “Almost as many as Chris.”

Justin’s eyes grew wide and he swallowed deeply, but still was bold enough to ask Chris the same question.

Chris rolled his eyes to the sky and mumbled about ‘this guy’ and ‘that guy’ as he ticked off numbers on his fingers. After much deliberation, he swam over to Justin, looked him in the eye, and shamelessly declared, “Absolutely. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.” After his disclosure he dunked Justin’s head under the water and swam away. Justin splashed after him, dunking Chris when he caught him. Chris emerged from the watery depths again, breathless. “I told you, we’re not bad guys. We’re just down on our luck at the moment. Can’t get a job because we have no phone number and no home address. Heck, our first robbery wasn’t even intentional. We were in a store late, dressed in dark leather and when Joey went to ask the cashier a question, the guy threw money at him, threw his arms in the air and kept saying, ‘don’t shoot me’. Joey just stood there stunned, with a handful of cash, until I grabbed him and pulled him out the door.”

“I think that was our best take. Almost five hundred dollars.”

“Yeah, we’re better as non-deliberate robbers. I guess our heart just isn’t in it. And we more like borrow cars than steal them. We always leave them in good shape and if we have enough cash, we even fill the gas tank.”

“Is my gas tank full now?” Lance asked.

“Um, no,” Chris confessed. “Told you. Bad robbers. Totally down on our luck.”

“And all you need is like a place to stay? And you’ll give up your life of crime and go straight?”

Joey and Chris both laughed, “We’d give up the crime, but can’t promise you about the ‘going straight’ part. Sure, kid. A roof over our heads would be a start.”

“Come stay with us. In our apartment.”

Lance and JC both looked suitably shocked.

Justin merely cocked his head, “What? Chris is fun and Joey cooks better than any of us. A lot better. You guys can even have my bedroom and I’ll stay on the couch. Then after you get jobs, you can move out, or we can all get a bigger place together. What do you say?”

Chris swam back over to Justin, kissing his cheek. “Are you sure you’re not gay? Maybe just a little.”

Justin eyed Lance and JC, then kissed Chris on the mouth. “Well, maybe just a little.”

~ END ~  
12/21/03  
© 2003 by Jacie


End file.
